31 April Fools’ Day Jokes For Teachers To Play At School

Christin is a mom and editor specializing in lifestyle content. She also hides cookies like a boss.

If you’re a teacher, you know that April 1 is definitely not just another day. If you’re not taking full advantage of April Fools’ Day, you’re totally missing out! There are so many fun, hilarious, and mind-blowing tricks, pranks, and gags that you can pull on your students. The best thing? They’ll love you for it! Kids love to joke around and have fun, so why not give them a chance to blow off some steam and see how awesome you are?

When you really stop and think about it, you probably have no idea how April Fools’ Day got its start. That’s understandable, since no one really knows much about the history of April Fools’ Day. Maybe the joke’s on us! There are a number of semi-plausible theories, but the most likely has to do with the switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar back in 1582.

According to History.com, “People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes.” As a result, they were often called “April fools.” So there you go.

Now that you know the “rich” history behind this silly day, it’s time to get planning some amazing April Fools’ Day jokes for school!

April Fools’ Pranks With Food

For those of us with a sweet tooth, these are among the most evil (yet ultimately harmless!) pranks out there, since many involve healthy food masked as sugary sweets. Of course, once the prank is over, you could always provide a fun treat to reduce the disappointment. Read on to find out how to pull the ultimate April Fools’ prank with food on your students. Note that if your school has strict food guidelines, or if any of your students have food allergies, you’ll want to check with the principal or skip this section altogether.

3. Doughnut Seeds

Casually pass out packets of “doughnut seeds,” which are actually cereal bits shaped like O’s. Tell your students to plant them in their garden in order to grow a crop of their very own doughnuts. This one’s best for the younger crowd!

5. Grapes Wrapped As Chocolate Eggs

It’ll certainly take quite a bit of prep work to wrap each grape in that colorful foil, but it’ll be worth it as your eager students unwrap them, only to find they’ve been duped!

High-Tech April Fools' Day Pranks

Only in today’s digital age can you pull off some of these crazy, awe-inspiring pranks! Although they take some prep work, these unforgettable April Fools’ Day prank ideas are simply hilarious and can be enjoyed by students of all ages, from elementary school to high school.

2. "Destroy" A Student's Phone For Texting In Class

This is a perfect prank for the ever-texting high school crowd, brought to you by weareteachers.com. You’ll need an accomplice for this one. Find an old cell phone and enlist the help of a student who will use it to pretend to text constantly during class. In a pretend fit of rage, grab the phone from the student and smash it on the ground. Trust us, you’ll have everyone’s attention!

3. Create A Classroom “Ghost” Using Wireless Technology

Another amazing prank by the geniuses over at weareteachers.com is the classroom “ghost.” Check out the instructions, but essentially, you’ll use wireless technology and Skype to have a teacher in a different room “take over” your SMART board, convincing your students that there’s a ghost. Solid burn.

4. Silly Files On Your Computer

Here’s a super-fun prank from squareheadteachers.com that will have your students scratching their heads: “‘Accidentally’ show a list of silly files on your computer when you’re getting your projector hooked up. For example, name files ‘Teachers who might be vampires’ or ‘Celebrity Visits at Our School.’”

Act completely casual and watch the hilarity ensue.

April Fools' Day Pranks With Classroom Items

Here are some super-simple April Fools’ Day jokes you can play using just the items in your classroom. There’s almost no prep work involved, but your students will love these just the same.

1. Rearrange Desks To Face Backward

2. Chair Switch-Out

Here’s a cute idea from squareheadteachers.com: Before your students come in, switch all of the chairs with those in a kindergarten classroom so they’re all much smaller than the students are used to. Sit back and watch their hilarious reactions!

3. Reassign Seats

This is a great prank for elementary classrooms, again from squareheadteachers.com. Have all the students sit at different desks in the morning, which isn’t entirely unusual, since most teachers do change seating arrangements on occasion. Let the fun begin when your students are again searching for their desks after recess, lunch, or both!

5. No Chairs

A variation of the above prank is to entirely remove all the chairs and act like nothing happened. Some will laugh, some will cry, and some will just sit on their desks.

Silly April Fools’ Day Pranks

Get your students laughing with these silly April Fools’ Day pranks that are super easy to do and are guaranteed to have them laughing. Choose one (or several!) of these jokes if you’re looking to pull off a prank that’s cheap or even free.

1. Shocking Pen

Purchase a “shocking pen” from a gag-gift store and set it next to a piece of paper at the front of the classroom. Tell students to come up and sign their name on the paper for any reason of your choice. Watch as they try to figure out why the pen is shocking them.

3. Party Popper Attached To Classroom Door

Here’s a great one from BuzzFeed: If your school will allow it, use tape to attach a party popper to your classroom door, then tape the string to the other side of the door frame. It’ll pop when a student enters the classroom, giving them quite a surprise! Even funnier? Get your students in on this one, and catch someone else entering your room by surprise. Your students will howl with laughter.

4. Free Ticket

From 9gag.com, create a bunch of tickets that say “Free Ticket: It’s not good for anything, it’s just free” and print them out. Hand them to students, who will wonder what they’re good for. Or, have a classroom contest with these tickets as the prizes. Why do this? Why not! It’s April Fools’ Day!

April Fools’ Day Pranks For High Schoolers

Even high schoolers can appreciate a well-played prank. They may not react as adorably as the younger set, but trust us, they’ll be psyched that you made the effort to do something fun and unusual for them.

1. Pop Quiz

Tell your students there’s a pop quiz. Hand out a sheet of paper that has lots of random questions; at least 50. Tell them explicitly to read the entire quiz before beginning. Have the last question say, “Don’t answer the questions. Write your name and turn this in.” See which students are good at following directions.

3. Assignment Due

Halfway through class, suddenly “remember” that the class has an important assignment due. Make this prank less obvious by tapping half the class to come up and turn the “assignment” in, but be sure to have a random mix of performers so you don’t single out students who don’t perform as well in school. Follow these instructions for how to pull off this funny prank from weareteachers.com.

5. Send Students To The Office

Be sure to check with the office and principal ahead of time for this one! Send students to the office who normally wouldn’t be sent, for silly things like looking at you funny or breathing too loudly. They’ll get a laugh even if they do figure it out before they leave the classroom.

6. Call Out Students

Write down the names of several students on the board with random information next to each name, like dates, letters, or short, nonsensical phrases. If asked about the significance of the names, say, “We’ll discuss it later” in an ominous tone.

April Fools’ Day Pranks For Preschoolers

We can’t forget our littlest friends on this super-fun day! Even the preschool set can enjoy a joke every now and then, and today is no exception. Here’s a list of very simple, easy-to-understand April Fools’ Day pranks for kids in preschool.

3. Peas And Carrots

4. Jell-O With A Straw

Serve Jell-O in clear plastic cups with straws inserted so they look like juice. Watch the hilarity ensue as the kids try to drink it. Be sure to provide spoons after the joke’s over unless you want some major tantrums on your hands!

5. Over-Easy "Egg"

At snack time, serve students a fake over-easy egg using a peach cut in half and plopped into the middle of a plateful of vanilla yogurt. Both funny and healthy, this April Fools’ Day joke is a winner!

6. Worm In The Apple

7. Brown "E"

The brown “E” is a preschool classic, and for good reason! Tell your students that you’ll be giving them a brownie, and then hand them each a brown “E” made with construction paper. Watch as they try to figure it out!

If you’ve been inspired to pull some of these great April Fools’ Day pranks on your students this year, please SHARE this article with your friends who may want to do the same!